750 apartments proposed in Lloyd District development

View full sizeLangley Investment PropertiesA proposed development in the Lloyd District. It will bring about 750 apartments to the largely commercial district, as well as retail space and parking.

Portland-based Langley Investment Properties is planning to build about 750
apartments in the heart of the Lloyd District. The project, on behalf of a San Diego-based real estate investment trust, is one of the largest single
apartment projects in the city's history.

A mixed-use project on the Lloyd District "superblock" site has been in the works for
some time, but Mayor Sam Adams announced fresh details of the project in his
State of the City address Friday. He said it would cost about $250 million,
calling it the city's "largest private sector-only investment in years."

This project alone would almost equal the 852 apartment units granted
building permits citywide in 2011. Those projects, spread across 21 developments,
cost an estimated $87 million combined.

Permitting is expected to finish this year, with 28 months of construction beginning early next year, a spokeswoman for Langley said.

"I'm not saying (the Lloyd District) can absorb 700 units easily, but I'd
rather be putting 700 units there than in Northwest, with everything that's
going on there," said Greg Frick, a partner with HFO Investment Real Estate in
Portland. Several smaller-scale projects are in the works in the Pearl District
and the Alphabet District.

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A one-bedroom apartment in or near the Lloyd District would currently fetch an average of $969 a
month in rent.

"I would expect that this new project will be absorbed quite quickly," said
Gary Winkler, a managing broker with Winkler & DuPont Commercial Real Estate
Services. "It's just a matter of who they're going to cater to and whether
construction will be offset by the rents they're going to get."

A document provided by Langley describes the development as a
transit-oriented "urban village." The four towers would be near the Rose Quarter transit
center and a new streetcar
line. They would be LEED certified and designed by GBD Architects.

Scott Langley, the chief executive officer of Langley Investment
Properties, declined to comment further on the proposed development.

It's Langley's first development project since it split from
Connecticut-based Ashforth Co. last year.

Langley will develop a site owned San Diego-based American Assets
Trust Inc., which bought the site of the proposed development from Ashforth last year.

It was not Ashforth's practice, however, to venture into Portland apartment
buildings. The company generally stuck to Lloyd District and downtown office
buildings.

Adams said the project would
create 3,000 construction jobs. Langley said the it is currently in the
design and entitlement phase.